


Imprinted Thought

by Skeren



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Clones, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2016-02-09
Packaged: 2018-05-19 09:51:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5962972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skeren/pseuds/Skeren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zack died, but in an attempt to be a less than horrible parent, Hojo tries to help Sephiroth feel better about that. In his own, special, mad scientist sort of way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written April 2008

Folding the colorful towel carefully, he settled it at the bottom of his pack. It would hardly be fitting for the 'Silver General' Sephiroth to be seen with a red, yellow and black monstrosity of a beach towel. Especially when it was something that he himself had purchased. Better the item make its way to the owner it was intended for without others possibly getting a glimpse of it in the meantime. 

Nodding to himself, and pleased with the choice, he put his other things back into his bag before casting a last sweep over the room he'd spent the night in. The next day he would be meeting up with Zack, and they would proceed to dealing with a band of vagrants out to sabotage Shinra. How grand. Determining he left nothing behind, he went to go catch the ship. 

Costa del Sol had been nice enough as a stopover, but it was far from interesting without anyone else being there to keep him entertained.

-o-o-o-o-

Sometimes he wondered if the teen even knew what the word 'tired' meant. Like now. Especially right now. Zack, in spite of having just come from another mission with him, seemed perfectly lively, energetic, perky, what-have-you, to the point where he was nigh frightened by the concept of how much _more_ energetic the man would be given any time off. It almost didn't bear thinking about.

Still, the energy was what made his student 'the Puppy' in his head. Not that he had any intentions of ever telling him he had him dubbed that, but it was what he was. Besides, he wasn't sure what he would do if he was given The Pout because the boy found out. He was enough on edge about what to do as it stood.

Zack was sleeping with someone. Who, he had no idea, unfortunately. He hadn't been on any missions or even in contact with him long enough before this last stint to know much aside from that he _was_ seeing someone. Any guesswork he could do would be patchy at best, and he didn't even have the haphazard approach of his nose to guide him. The kid was careful. 

The kid was also talking. Grimacing inwardly, he sincerely hoped that he hadn't been caught with his mind wandering. The puppy didn't need to know that his mind ever _did_ wander. That way led only to bad habits.

"So, yeah, that was about the gist of that when it came right down to it. At least the bar made some good profits, right?" A bright smile accompanied the question, and he raised an eyebrow right back. When the teen looked sheepish, he figured that was the reaction he would have used even if he had a clue what he had been talking about. Either way, Zack hastily made to turn the topic onto something else. "So! We're due to meet in an hour right Seph?"

...Seph? Since when did Sephiroth let anyone call him _that_? "Yes. Why?"

"Well, I was thinking. How about we go snag something to eat before meeting up? I mean, I know _I_ would appreciate it, y'know?"

"You're hungry and looking for an excuse to have me pay for it you mean."

The lull after his statement came as no surprise, nor did Zack's answer. "Maybe?"

Heaving a sigh that implied he minded a good deal more than he actually did, he turned to walk off, waving for the teen to follow. "Come on then."

"Woo!"

"And next time, you pay for it."

"Damn."

-o-o-o-o-

Sephy Seph Seph. Finally. It had been a couple months since he'd gotten any private time with the guy and this mission was just the thing. Though it was kinda weird being around Seph and Angeal at the same time. He wasn't trying to hide his relationship with Seph from Angeal, but he wasn't sure he wanted to discourage Angeal either when the guy had _finally_ made his way up to kissing. He'd tell him if he asked, and since he hadn't, he figured either he didn't notice, or didn't actually care. Either way, it didn't make it less odd to have the guys back in the same space again. 

Shaking off the odd thoughts, he moved over, waving to the silver haired man as he picked up his belongings just off the boat. "Hiya! We already have a place to stay the night picked out, so if you drop off your stuff, and you're good to go, we can just head right out. Oh! And we brought you food."

A glance was shot past him to Angeal, and he huffed at the shared look of irony the two passed. He didn't mean it, but they expected him to react that way, so he didn't mind obliging. Besides, it was kind of rude. "He means to say, I bought food, and we'll show you off to the room so that you can get a break before we go anywhere else. Right Zack?"

"Well, no... But we can do that if you really want."

Seph shook his head at them both, padding his way closer as he looked from one to the other, like he was searching for a reason not to be amused. That was what his eyes said, at least, though no smile crossed his face. "I'm fine. We can leave for the field once I set my things aside and eat." 

They fell in step by each other, but he didn't mind, listening to their conversation without butting into it. It could be annoying some days, but he was in too much of a good mood for today to be one of those. Angeal, of course, started their conversation.

"It's not like you to spoil someone."

"It's not like you to notice. I really am fine to go straight into the mission. It's what? A few rebels, isn't it? With Wutai still so recently over, people haven't settled. I shouldn't take more than an hour at best."

"Maybe. If we knew where they were we'd be able to confirm that, but in the last day, Zack and I haven't been able to figure out where their base was."

"Then where is he so eager to go?"

He turned on his heel, walking backwards as he flashed them a smile. "Oh, somewhere." He shook his head, and movement caught his attention to his right and up. What? 

He felt his balance go, heard an echo of gunfire. What the hell was going on? Sure, they were now near the edge of the town but... Oh, that stung. That stung a lot. And Seph and Angeal were ducking for cover. 

At least he was already down, that was good, and he moved a hand to press against the stinging pain on his chest, fingers moving back a little and he saw blood on his fingers, heard movement, and saw Angeal move through. Seph was by him a second later, and he realized it was damn difficult to breathe.

"Zack. Zack, look at me." Seph was talking. He tilted his head back, looked at him, and got a potion for his trouble. Potions were good. The potion didn't make the pain go away. His skin mended, he could tell, but something still ached sharply in his chest, and he could see the alarm crossing the other man's face.

"m'good."

"No Zack, you are not good. That shot was entirely too close to your heart for comfort." A spell this time, and he felt the sharp twinge through his chest. Something inside didn't like that, and it burned, but nothing else really did and he felt heavy. There was still shouting too, the sounds of people dying.

No, the mission wouldn't take long at all from the sounds of it.

"Zack. Look at me." The order made his eyes crack back open, and he didn't know how they'd closed. It was getting hard to see and everything burned, from the tips of his fingers on in to his heart. Maybe if he went to sleep, that would stop? It was a good theory. 

"Shh Seph. Lemme sleep." Why was he mumbling? That should have come out stronger than that by a lot. And Seph was casting again. In fact, he could have sworn that he saw a spent down a second ago, but with the haze it was hard to tell. 

"No! Zack, don't you dare." 

He didn't like that Seph was using that tone, not at all. But, there was Angeal. He looked worried. Why were they both so worried? "Isn't he sweet?" 

The words came out closer to 'ishne eet,' but it was clear enough. Unfortunately, he never did get an answer to the question.


	2. Chapter 2

It had taken a year, and while educational, he was glad that the project was now self-sufficient enough that it could be passed along to its intended owner. He would have to do regular maintenance, of course, but day to day training and feeding would now be in the hands of someone else. Which was good, as it had gotten entirely too inquisitive now that it was big enough to actually get into things.

At the moment, however, it was sleeping, having exhausted itself on one or another of his technicians. Some of them seemed to enjoy the project well enough, so he let them tend to it when he could. They were people he tried to keep from getting underfoot most of the time in any case, much like the project itself. 

Carefully gathering the small project from its bedding, he wrapped a blanket around it, dropping one of the bigger folds across the face. It wouldn't suffocate, and it settled readily enough into his grip as he carried it along into his main office. It was far from a perfect project. Inherently flawed, more fragile than it needed to be, but he'd refrained, aware that anything else would not acquire him his desired result. Thus with the reminder, he'd managed to refrain from making too many further improvements, leaving them low enough that it would still be accepted and doing his best to ignore the many glaring flaws. After today, it wouldn't matter, as he doubted his suspicious child would ever return it to his care. 

All for the better if this went as planned actually. The boy had been overworking himself in his sulk, and while it was highly productive to Shinra as a whole, it was far too likely that the self-imposed stress would ruin the boy if he kept on with it too much longer. Thus, he'd created this particularly innovative solution. Even if it did make the boy more willful, it was better than the boy being broken.

Making sure that the project wasn't going to move from where he'd settled it, he moved from the room to call Sephiroth. He let nothing of his intentions slip, allowing the boy to believe it was for a post-mission once over. It was intentional. 

He had no wish to ruin his surprise.

-o-o-o-o-

Once again, he found focus eluding him. It was a wavering thing, focus. Either he managed to completely devote his attention, or he couldn't manage to turn his attention to anything at all relevant. Angeal told him it was because he needed to rest, and he might not be wrong. He also might not be wrong in it being because he didn't eat enough as well.

It still took him off guard at times that Angeal had taken the death so well, especially now that it was just down to the two of them, Genesis having had the poor timing to vanish early in the year. Or, perhaps, he was just taking it poorly enough for the both of them, and they were serving as a mutual focus to avoid the matter. That was also possible. 

Shaking his head as he realized his mind was, once again, drifting widely off course, he sighed, checking his phone for messages. There was one. From Hojo, of course. 

As though his day needed any further dip in spirits. 

Still, he knew that he could hardly avoid going to the labs forever, no matter how much leniency he was getting of late. He finally made his way down. The route was long familiar. Office to lab, passcodes at the appropriate points, nods to the appropriate guards. It was familiar enough that he didn't consider it uncomfortable, just annoying, and he didn't bother to greet any of the technicians, instead just making his way directly to Hojo's office to see what he was wanted for. 

The man was clearly annoyed when he arrived. Had the message been sent that long ago?

"Finally. That's yours." He gestured to a bundle on one of the tables near the wall, which was currently cleared of anything else.

Which was in itself unusual. Usually, Hojo's private workspace was more than slightly crowded. Padding over to the bundle, he caught the edge of a scent, something that said human, and that was enough prompting for him to tug a section away, seeing a child within. He immediately looked back to the Professor, fingers resting on the bundle, the child, as he let his eyes make the questions for him. Or rather, in this instance, demands.

He could feel the child shift under his fingers. Hojo, however, didn't answer the questions, just waving his arm dismissively. "Take it."

Cautious of the idea that the man would change his mind, he gathered the child into his grip, settling it against his chest. He was focused enough on Hojo he missed the sleepy smile he got before it went back to sleep. "Where did you get it?"

"I made it after you persisted in moping." The look that accompanied the reply was almost exasperated. What reason did Hojo have to be exasperated with this conversation?

He held the child closer. "You did?"

"Yes. In spite of yourself, you _are_ still my child. Now take your toy and go, I have work to do." An eyebrow was arched at him, and he realized that he should likely comply, lest the man change his mind.

So he did, sleeping child held snug, in part, to keep it from prying eyes. In part because he hadn't decided to react to it yet. He also was far from steady as to how to react to the fact that Hojo had apparently made him a present so he would... feel better, for lack of anything better to call it.

No, better not to focus on any of that, and he instead kept his focus on getting to his room, wanting to get a better look at the child, determine that it was a little human as he thought, that it didn't seem unhealthy and so forth. 

See what it looked like.

-o-o-o-o-

When he finally reached his room, it was a slight relief. There was no more need to be concerned that the child would be discovered before he could better look at it. Locking the door behind him, he made his way to the couch, setting the small one down on it. 

That was apparently the easy part, as he hadn't realized that sleeping children could be stubborn. Once the blankets were opened, he still had a black haired ball of fluff to unravel. He knew it wasn't cold in his rooms, so the reaction, while... cute, wasn't one that he had any intention of allowing just at the moment. Still, he paused to run his fingers over the black, then moved his hands to nudge, carefully unfolding the child. 

He knew the exact moment it came fully awake, the jolt telling him before the opened eyes did, but the smile caught his attention at the same time as the purple tinted glow, irrepressibly happy in spite of just having been woken. Studying the small, unfinished child features, his hand moved to pet the little cheek. It explained the protective urge if nothing else, and the half familiarity of the scent. Zack's eyes, hair, smile. The face was too young, but the bone structure was the same. 

Hojo had made him a little clone. That, or Hojo had made him a child of Zack that looked far too much like he had. Either way, it didn't matter. The child was here now.

Collecting the child, deciding that it smelled far too much of lab, he felt the small hands grab and find a hold on him, and the high voice spoke up for the first time in his hearing. "Where are we going?"

Old enough to talk, decently too. That was good. The child could tell him if he upset it. "You smell like lab, so I am going to wash you."

"Oh. What's not-lab smell like?"

"It doesn't burn the nose." He'd reached the bathroom, but unfortunately was caught in a dilemma. He'd get the bath started first and deal with the gloves and coat second. Kneeling by the tub, he set the child on its feet, a hand keeping it in place by staying on a small shoulder, while the other hand plugged and turned on the water. 

The child held still, studying his face. "What's your name?"

"Sephiroth." Having the water started, he quickly stripped his gloves and coat, putting them away from the tub before turning back to the young one, pleased it hadn't moved from where it was put while contact wasn't made. "Yours?"

For the first time, the child looked almost uncomfortable. "I don't have one."

And the reason was clear enough. Turning slightly to swish his fingers through the water, and adjust the temperature a fraction, he considered. He didn't believe he'd mind, and he was hardly here to say. "Then you will be Zack."

"Zack?"

He nodded slightly, fingers carefully tugging the lab clothing from the child, which was thankfully not argued. "Yes. You resemble him a good deal, and I don't think he would mind you having his name." He paused, looking the child over, and felt a sharp spark of ironic humor along with the pang that usually came with thinking about the man. "He's not using it anymore."

The child was a little girl. Watching the child turn to peer into the tub, he felt almost pleased that he hadn't caught the mistake sooner. Now, it was too late to change his mind. He wouldn't take the name back from the formerly nameless girl. Zack would just have to forgive him. "Why not?"

"Because he died. You can't really use a name anymore once you do that." His voice was quiet, and he lifted her over the edge of the tub to sit her in it, negating the risk of her diving in head first as he twisted to turn off the water. 

"Oh." She peered at the water, but quieted for long enough he thought that would be answer enough. She continued the moment he moved to fetch a washcloth. "What's died?"

"Died is an active version of dead. Dead means that someone will never move, or laugh, or talk, or breath, or have a heartbeat ever again."

"That sounds boring."

He blinked, then studied the child, having the abrupt impression that she hadn't understood a word. "It also means they're gone away forever, because the body will just fall apart with nobody inside." When she just blinked at him, he _knew_ she hadn't understood a word. 

He decided to let the matter rest for now, instead just dipping his hands in the water to start wetting her hair. "I'll explain better later on. It's easier with books to show you how it works." It wasn't the only topic he had after all, and he was curious if she'd known about Hojo's plan. "Hojo said that he made you for me. Because I was unhappy my Zack was dead. Not like that, of course, but he's Hojo, one doesn't expect him to say things nicely."

The topic got an interested, and intent reaction. Just as he'd expected. Definitely in common with her namesake. "Is that why I got made?"

He nodded, continuing to wet her hair with trickles of water. "It's what he said... I don't think it was a lie. Will you be Zack then? Or do you want me to find another name?"

Her smile was bright, and he felt something in him relax at that point. "Zack is okay."

"Zack it shall be." It was only fair to warn her that he'd be upping his efforts to wet her hair. "Now, I cannot wash you if you're dry." 

Her reaction was more amusing than it had any right to be. She looked at him like he was crazy. After giving the water a puzzled look at least. "Where's the spray?"

He pointed, deciding to satisfy one question before causing more. "The shower head is up there. This, however, is a bath. You can move the water too." He gathered the forewarned handfuls of water, and managed to time it just so as to get her in the face, which was not at all what he'd been aiming for. He hummed to hide his amusement. "Right, I should have aimed further back, shouldn't I?"

To show he hadn't meant anything adverse, he ran his fingers over her face, making sure the sputtering was just because of the water, not because she'd breathed any. She seemed fine. When he repeated the handful of water, she held still, waiting for him to give her a cue before thinking to reinvestigate the bathwater. 

Once he was sure her hair was wet enough, he turned to eye the shampoo. "Done with the watering for now." 

Her giggles told him plainly enough that she hadn't much needed him to say anything when his attention moved away, but better establish these things now than later. He could feel the smile trying to tug at his lips, and he focused on the shampoos. Half plain, half not, but all light enough with any scent that he could tolerate them easily. Normal people tended to miss the scents entirely. Which was fine. He needed some privacy at times, and small scents was enough for it. 

He collected the fruit shampoo that was on the lowest shelf, a legacy started with Zack one day when he'd stayed over and left it here come morning. He'd gone through several bottles of the brand since then, but it was always soothing. Perhaps the child might like it. If not, at least he did. 

Satisfied with the thought, he opened it and filled his palm, then set to lathering her hair. 

The child, of course, still had curiosity to settle. "What's that?" 

"Shampoo."

"It smells funny."

"Like fruit. Zack used to buy it, and I like it. Do you like it?"

"I don't know. It doesn't smell _bad_."

"I know. It's why I like it." Realizing just how thick the black mass of spikes was, he focused a bit more intently to make sure he got all of it clean. 

"Is it cause your Zack bought it?"

The question was unexpectedly insightful. "Yes. He showed me many things I liked." She said nothing else, and he collected the soap to wash her up, leaving her to play with the suds in her hair as he got the portion of her body not submerged in the water. "Careful not to get that in your eyes. It stings. It also slides down your face when you're not looking." It didn't take long until he had her washed where he could from here. She wasn't big. "I do believe I need you upright. Stand."

She did as told, which was jarring a little by itself, different, but not so much on second thought. He used a hand to keep her balanced and quickly scrubbed her down. "Lift a foot." When she did, her tongue ended up sticking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration. "Now the other. Same way." She complied, still with the deeply concentrated look on her face. Finishing up the scrub, he picked her up and set her back in the water. "Close your eyes." When she complied, she grabbed onto his arms. He could work around that, and he washed her face and ears. "Keep them closed, I'm going to tip you to get most of the shampoo out, but there will still be enough to slide down your face."

"Kay." If anything, her grip tightened. It would make it a tad difficult to get her properly rinsed. Thinking, he decided to just swish her around in the water. It would do well enough, and would be just as effective as working the suds out with his hands. It also, apparently, was entertaining, as it set off a squeal and giggles.

"That's the best I can do with your grip, so I suppose it will do." He tugged her upright. "One more rinse and all your soap should be dealt with." She didn't stop giggling, his hands tipping her a little so he could get water over her head even with her grip on his arms. She moved both hands to the arm he was leaning her into at that point, and it made it far easier to finish rinsing her. He flicked her hair out of her face before deeming her done. "You can open your eyes now."

When she opened her eyes, she grinned, though the grinned turned to utter fascination as he pulled the plug to let the water out of the tub. "Oooooh." Definitely a small child.

Shaking his head, he left her to it, moving to collect one of his towels. Used once, so they smelled like him, but they weren't dirty, and they would do. When she got up to crawl out of the tub, he looked back to her. It was just in time to see her smacking the tub for daring to make her fall on her backside, so far as he could see. 

Picking her up, he carefully dried her off, hair fluffing wildly from his approach, and the girl just giggled even more. It was like she was a font of laughter, though how was a mystery. Was it a small child thing? Finally, he set her down, hanging up the towel so that the soaked cloth could dry.

Then he pushed the bathroom door the rest of the way open so she could leave the room. "Feel free to explore, don't touch anything sharp or made of clear things."

She smiled, then left the room with utter confidence in her step. He was far from stunned that she _would_ want to explore. Still, he could hardly have her running naked. Moving out into the hall after her, he picked through the closet, digging out a large red, black, and yellow beach towel, the terry surface covered in chocobos. Hesitating only briefly, he dropped it on the girl's head. "That's yours."

She accepted it without a pause, tossing it over her shoulder like a shawl, then resumed her explorations.

He was content enough to leave her to it, though he didn't get much time to muse on what to do now before there was knocking on the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately, this is as far as I ever got. I do hope the concept entertained you as much as it did me.

He was running behind his normal schedule today. More paperwork was coming through recently, the end of the war and Sephiroth's frenzy of activity conspiring to leave everyone available to cover the flood. Lazard had, apparently, taken to delegating a mass of it, which hardly made the situation any better for anyone with rank and clearance. Shaking his head to try and brush off the tension, he turned his attention to knocking. 

Rumor had come around and reminded him that he was running behind, and he hoped that Sephiroth's visit to see Hojo hadn't completely killed the man's appetite. It had happened before. Either way, he knew that the man would let him fuss. It was a distraction for them both and they knew it, but they leaned on each other. 

Shame it had to because of that. And why wasn't the man answering the door? Sighing, he knocked again.


End file.
